United States National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health

Fact Sheet
The NLM Gateway

Introduction

NLM® Gateway: http://gateway.nlm.nih.gov

Gateway is "One-stop shopping" for an increasing number of the information resources of the National Library of Medicine® (NLM).  Gateway provides a single interface that searches in multiple retrieval systems. It is targeted to the Internet user who comes to NLM not knowing exactly what is available or how best to search for it. It is also a useful tool for those who wish to perform a comprehensive search on a subject.

Gateway Characteristics

The user enters one query that is sent automatically to multiple retrieval systems that have different characteristics but potentially useful results. A summary of results is presented in broad categories — bibliographic resources, consumer health resources, other information resources. The user can access an individual collection's results directly through its link on the summary.

Some users who come to Gateway for an overview scan of NLM resources will find what they need immediately. Others may find that one resource, such as PubMed® or MedlinePlus®, has information they would like to know more about. They may then choose to go straight to that resource for a more focused search.

Goals

Gateway now Accesses:

The basic Gateway search interface is simple. It takes advantage of the capabilities of the retrieval systems it links to, for example, the advanced query parser and the Related Articles and LinkOut functions in MEDLINE/PubMed. Users can set preferences to adapt the interface to their needs, such as specifying which elements of a record they wish to see in the display of results. A "locker" is used to store selected results the user wishes to keep across sessions. The user can download, print, or email results.

The design builds on the strength of the intelligent gateway concept: the ability to offer value-added capabilities the user did not know to ask for. In future versions, links within and across databases will be exploited. Searches in clusters of NLM databases (or in all databases) will be offered.

Current Status

The NLM Gateway was released to the public on October 16, 2000. A comprehensively redesigned versions were released in April 2005 and February 2008. Enhancements are implemented periodically.

For information on NLM services, contact:

National Library of Medicine
Customer Service
8600 Rockville Pike
Bethesda, MD 20894

Telephone: 1-888-FINDNLM (1-888-346-3656) or (301) 594-5983
e-mail: custserv@nlm.nih.gov

A complete list of NLM Fact Sheets is available at:

(alphabetical list) http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/factsheets/factsheets.html
(subject list): http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/factsheets/factsubj.html

Or write to:

FACT SHEETS
Office of Communications and Public Liaison
National Library of Medicine
8600 Rockville Pike
Bethesda, Maryland 20894

Phone: (301) 496-6308
Fax: (301) 496-4450
email: publicinfo@nlm.nih.gov

Last reviewed: 13 August 2009
Last updated: 13 August 2009
First published: 12 May 2004
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